DragStuff

Posted: **Thu May 19, 2011 12:15 am**

sc racing wrote:Looks like they did a very nice fitment on the cage, don't take this the wrong way but I just don't know why they would put the bars in front of the dash to me it looks a lot better going through the dash closer to the A pillar. I know its more work but I think its worth it.

Cuz I have way too much stuff behind the dash in this thing - gauges, wiring, hoses, etc. And we'd have had to pull the windshield and it just would have gone downhill from there...

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2011 12:46 pm**

wikd69 wrote:
sc racing wrote:Looks like they did a very nice fitment on the cage, don't take this the wrong way but I just don't know why they would put the bars in front of the dash to me it looks a lot better going through the dash closer to the A pillar. I know its more work but I think its worth it.
Cuz I have way too much stuff behind the dash in this thing - gauges, wiring, hoses, etc. And we'd have had to pull the windshield and it just would have gone downhill from there...

Thats what I figured I guess if you were starting from scratch with a shell they would have done it that way.
It really looks good

I wasnt putting it down just wondering.

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2011 2:30 pm**

sc racing wrote:
wikd69 wrote:
sc racing wrote:Looks like they did a very nice fitment on the cage, don't take this the wrong way but I just don't know why they would put the bars in front of the dash to me it looks a lot better going through the dash closer to the A pillar. I know its more work but I think its worth it.
Cuz I have way too much stuff behind the dash in this thing - gauges, wiring, hoses, etc. And we'd have had to pull the windshield and it just would have gone downhill from there...
Thats what I figured I guess if you were starting from scratch with a shell they would have done it that way.
It really looks good I wasnt putting it down just wondering.

Yep, I understand :)

The builder sweated over connecting the new A-pillar bars to my front clip bars for that very reason. Turned out good tho. I'll be posting some more pix in a bit...

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2011 2:33 pm**

You should have that thing out on the streets any time now right?? The updates look great, I wanna see some single digit slips from that new gear!!

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2011 7:13 pm**

Hitchcock wrote:You should have that thing out on the streets any time now right?? The updates look great, I wanna see some single digit slips from that new gear!!

Yep - brought it home yesterday and I've been busy doing finish-up stuff on it - planning on saddling up and heading for SoCal on Wednesday, barring any issues or major problems.

And I did um, exercise it a bit yesterday. Geezo. These 18.50 MT Sportsman Pro's don't hook, in any gear at any speed, though they do lay down nice marks all the way up into 3rd gear.

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2011 7:23 pm**

Thats friggin awesome!

Now how bout a video of the new setp up doing its thing!

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2011 7:28 pm**

Hitchcock wrote:Thats friggin awesome! Now how bout a video of the new setp up doing its thing!

I took both of the builders out for e-Ticket rides once I backed it out of the shop. I think they were too busy screaming to do much filming...

It was fun - they were both in shock when I left the shop and headed home LOL LOL...

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2011 10:15 pm**

I brought the Camaro home on Friday and the new cage turned out sweet. Mike Tolle of Tolle Fab down in Rancho Cordova did the cage and I'm very impressed with how clean the work is and how thorough Mike and Jeff were with the effort. I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with an NHRA guy to Cert the cage. Think positive thoughts for me - hopefully he'll find no issues with what we've done :)

All of the tubing is .120 wall DOM, with the main tubing at 1 5/8" OD. Everything is TIG welded and very symmetrical - there is no way on earth I could have done this myself - I don't have the skills or knowledge and was fortunate to find someone who was adept at doing this. Mike does a lot of chassis and cage work on SCCA, GT and other road race cars along with his NHRA work - typically all full race chassis builds. I presented him with some unique challenges with my need to have a usable street build and still end up with a stout cage. We added door swing-out bars, a dash bar just behind (towards the driver) and even with the bottom of the dash itself and door sill bars, to ensure the overall cage stayed nice and stout. Mike also moved my tach from where it was under the dash and mounted it on the dash bar.

This is the seat brace Mike and Jeff added - this was another street issue - my upholstered seats did not have a clean way to allow bracing or attachment to the B-pillar back bar, per NHRA spec. We ended up skinning the drivers seat and Jeff TIG'd in a sandwich plate to the upper seat back pan, adding mounting bolts out the back of the seat. They built an external brace pad which bolts to this and has an adjustable slip fit to another bracket TIG'd to the B-pillar back bar. Very elegant and very clean. Like I said, I'm very impressed by the quality of the work.

In a previous set of posts I showed the new firewall bars I installed in the front clip. Jeff tied the new A-pillar bars to these, going so far as re-TIG'ing my original welds up front so that they matched the rest of the cage.. This extra step makes this a full 12-point cage in this street ride, allows me to retain my original dash and takes all the flex out of the chassis.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 4:55 pm**

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 5:53 pm**

wikd69 wrote:

Congrats

when is the first pass?

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 5:58 pm**

Carolina Kid wrote:
wikd69 wrote:

Congrats
when is the first pass?

Hopefully Thursday nite at Irwindale...

Depends on when I'm able to saddle up and boogie south...

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 6:16 pm**

wikd69 wrote:
Carolina Kid wrote:
wikd69 wrote:

Congrats
when is the first pass?
Hopefully Thursday nite at Irwindale...

Depends on when I'm able to saddle up and boogie south...

What kinda time are you going to be happy with?

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 6:51 pm**

Carolina Kid wrote:
wikd69 wrote:
Carolina Kid wrote: Congrats
when is the first pass?
Hopefully Thursday nite at Irwindale...

Depends on when I'm able to saddle up and boogie south...
What kinda time are you going to be happy with?

9.999999999999999999

Anything beyond that will be gravy

I will taking down all my blower cogs as well as my jet/shooter kit

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 7:19 pm**

Wow! nice work!!!!!!!!!!! You should be proud of it.....

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 7:44 pm**

I will bet it will run 9.99 or better at Irwindale

DragStuff

Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)

Re: Major changes, new parts, more grunt, yee haw ! :)